United States U-20 Soccer

Tab Ramos Names 35 for U.S. Under-20 Qualifying

United States under-20 coach Tab Ramos pretty much defined the player pool for January's U-20 World Cup qualification process, and ASN's Brian Sciaretta has more for you right here.

BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
December 28, 2014
12:26 PM

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TAB RAMOS TODAY announced the provisional 35-player roster for U-20 World Cup qualifying as well as a 21-player roster for its final camp in Sunrise, Florida.

The large provisional roster is surprising only that it contains top prospects Emerson Hyndman of Fulham and Rubio Rubin of Utrecht, who are both expected to face club objections. Since the games do not fall on FIFA international dates, clubs are not required to release players for this tournament.

The current 21 player camp in Florida will open today and run through January 5 and all 35 players are available for selection to the 20-player roster for World Cup qualifying which is being hosted by Jamaica and will begin on January 9.

It is expected that the final World Cup qualifying roster will be named shortly after the conclusion of the camp.

In Jamaica, the U.S. U-20 team will open Group A play when it faces Guatemala on January 9th followed by games against Panama on January 11th, Aruba on January 14th, hosts Jamaica on January 18th, and Trinidad & Tobago on January 21st.

“We are certainly ahead of the game compared to the last cycle as far as preparation,” Ramos said via press release. “I think that the biggest challenge for us in this cycle is that the last qualifiers were played in Mexico and we were guaranteed of games on very good fields. That always benefits the good teams. This time around, because the facilities in Jamaica will be more difficult to play on, I think that evens out the competition a lot more. That’s something that we’ll have to adjust to.”

Should the U.S. win Group A, it will qualify for the World Cup. If it finishes in second or third place, it will face a one-game playoff for a World Cup spot. If it finishes lower than third place, it will be automatically eliminated.

The U.S. is led by attackers Paul Arriola and Romain Gall who have both been integral parts of the team’s attack all cycle long.